Selfish
by Brot'Quel
Summary: During Thronecoming Raven and Apple talks but not everything goes as intended... I won't tell you the pairings but they are gonna be yuri and only hinted (as of right now)
1. Chapter 1

"You are the one who's been selfish."

Eight words seems to be enough to silence the whole population of Ever After High attending the preparations for the carnival parade of Thronecoming day... they silence them and sure as hex they put Raven Queen's mind to a screeching stop so, as she looks at Apple White's retreating form, something snaps inside her.

"Do not dare to take another step, Princess Apple White!"

If the plaza was silent before, now it's quiet is utterly deafening.

"Ooooh, hex... if Raven's using honorifics dragon's manure's about to hit the fan..." mumbles Kitty Cheshire, to the side as she hext for Cerise to run to them as fast as she can.

"I am the selfish one, Princess?" asks Raven not wanting to believe to her own ears "I AM THE SELFISH ONE?"

Apple slowly turns, never having ever heard such a tone in Raven's voice before.

"Do tell me, oh future fairest of them all..." purple magical tendrils reach for Apple, dragging her at lightning speed to Raven "What makes me the selfish one and you the innocent one?"

"Raven, please calm down I already explained to you why it is that way in this particular case." Apple defends herself.

"Oh, no, my dear... you told me why you were in a childish tantrum 'till the school has started, and if you are not going to further explain your reasons then I guess it's MY turn now!"

Raven's eye are glowing with magic as she forces Apple to stand in front of her as a good soldier.

As Cerise stops in a cloud of dust Kitty direct her gaze to what is happening just a few metres from them.

"I tried not to go down too hard on you Apple b-but this is ENOUGH! I put up with you when you used your family's prestige to separate me from my best friend 'till kindergarten, I put up with you when you redecorated my half of the room as a horrifying crypt, I put up with you as I found out that you dumped my WHOLE WARDROBE to fill my closet with thrice damned ribs-cracking CORSETS, I put up with every 'Raven, can't you please be a little more villain-y?' 'Raven, would you please poison me?' 'Raven, you have to be more mean-y' and all that dumb chorus of idiotic statements, I put up when you stalked me to get me to sign that disgusting book and every single time you were forgiven because of who you are and because of who I am supposed to be and all of this because this moronic heart of mine had to fall in love with YOU out of all the girls in this hexed realm!"

...

...

Apple's eyes widens to the size of frisbees "Y-you love m-"

"NA-AH! No time for that! First the rage, then the embarassment!" clarifies the young witch as a light dusting of red appears on her pale cheeks.

"Do you or any of your royal lackeys understand what you are asking us to do? Let me do it for you..."

Raven takes a long breath before starting her rant.

"For all of you royals is simple: you bite a freaking apple and then you get true love and a life in a castle, Briar sting one of her fingers, Daring kiss an unconscious lady-" she shivers at the though "-and he gets to be king!"

The royals starts to exchange worried looks between themselves.

"But let's go with the rebels, shall we? You eat an apple? CERISE HAS TO BE EATEN ALIVE! Briar stings a finger? ASHLINN SERVES AS A SLAVE FOR YEARS! Daring kisses? HUNTER HAS TO SLAIN AND MAIM! For heaven's sakes, Apple, Hunter is vegan and hemophobic and you are asking him to mill his axe around like a possessed men!"

Said Hunter blushes at the mention of his phobia.

"Have you ever thought about poor Cedar? She has to get robbed, eaten by a whale/shark, turned into a donkey, burn her own feet and saw her nose off just so she can be a normal girl! Not a princess, not a queen... a normal girl with bones, meat and all the squishy stuff every one of us has since the day he or she was born!"

Cupid lays a comforting hand on the poor puppet's shoulder.

"Oh, and let's not forget about me... the oh so selfish Raven Queen..." her voice is dripping with venom at this point "I have to poison the girl I already revealed I love because she's more popular than me... what am I? A bimbo? You know me! I don't give a damn about popularity! I'll just be happy if people were to stop to run away from me screaming their heads off even before getting to know me!"

Many faces, among the audience, start to turn red in emarassment.

"Then I have to live as a hobo on the run until I get caught, I'll be forced in a loveless marriage with a man I never met even though I'm as gay as a unicorn barfing rainbows and then I get thrown into the mirror prison forever after because I did what YOU told me to do as soon as I give birth to a daughter fully knowing that she'll be forced down my same-" Raven nears Apple "-exact-" their noses are touching "-HELL OF A LIFE!" she finally roars to the flabbergasted princess face in a way that would make her pet dragon, Nevermore, proud.

As Raven chest heaves with difficult breaths the other boys and girls start to murmur among themselves.

"-it is for the grater good-"

"-isn't it basically rape?"

"-if the fairy tales are meant to be like this-"

"-poor thing-"

"-it's her duty, after all-"

"-I'm gonna join the rebels ASAP-"

"-I'm gonna have my happily ever after, any way-"

"-EATEN ALIVE?"

Having caught her second wind Raven starts to talk again.

"Just so you know, Princess, I have done my homeworks after that day I refused to sign for the first time and I found out that exist many examples of fairytale characters that got fed with this whole 'SIGN OR POOF' thing generations ago and are now living happily ever after... or at least their descendants do..."

Raven gaze is burning holes throgh Apple's head.

"I tried to slip that info to you so many times just to hear you reply 'I understand you are afraid Raven but lying won't help you understand the fact that you are wrong!'"

Many voices gasps at this.

"The only reason why I'm not giving out names is because I know for a fact that if the headmaster was to know who they are or where are they living he'll try to drag them back to this blasted circle of childs forced into running the same path their parents run like headless chickens... but now... I'm done... I love you Apple more than I can say with words but if this is how you see me then... all of the pain and the anger... it's not worth it... have fun finding a new Evil Queen... I'm done..." she says as she pulls her spiked hedband from her hair and she let it fall to the floor.

Raven slowly walks to Cerise "I'm sorry, Cerise... I am not strong enough to lead the rebels... I just can't-"

Before she could even finish her line Cerise drags her in the most warm hug she ever received.

"Run away and try to be happy, my Alpha."

Raven melts in the hug as she reciprocates the gesture "Please be the strong leader I couldn't be and find a way to shred that hood to ribbons, my sister."

As the two departs from one another Raven gaze meets the one of Madelyne Hatter, a gaze full of comprehension and encouragement... they smile to one another and no other word is needed.

What surprises Raven the most though is finding Lizzie Heart lightly bowing her head to her as she whispers "I had hoped to find a way to restore the friendship between the Queen and the Heart's clan but if this is what it take for you to be happy then go and reach for your freedom... and if someone tries to stop you or hurt you then I want you to call me... and heads will roll! OFF WITH 'EM HEADS!"

The two princess shares a quick chuckle before Raven turns one last time to the still magically bonded form of Apple White.

"Farewell, Ever After High, may your future be free of destiny bonding books and full of happiness... bye..."

In a flash of purple, Raven Queen disappears from the Ever After High.


	2. Chapter 2

Three weeks has already passed since the disappearence of Raven Queen from Ever After High... Apple White can remember the moment Raven's spell left her finally free to move, she remembers running to their shared dorm in such a frantic pace that by the end of the run both her legs and her lungs were burning like hell, she remember opening the door with such a panic-born strenght that it destroyed the lock and one of the hinges, she remembers hoping against all hope to find her best frienemy here, she remember waiting for her return, but it was not meant to be, she remembers seeing everything she bought for the witch still laying there and so she just sat down on the purple comforter, waiting for Raven to come back... after these long three weeks there is still no sign of the disappeared witch.

She just cannot understand: how could Raven forsake her-their own life like that?

Why couldn't she just listen to headmaster Grimm? Does the threat of disappearing means nothing to her? Does the idea of existing disgusts her? Does she actively seek their distruction?

 _And yet_ , a small voice in the back of her mind says, I'm still here.

She could stand the countless murmurs in the hallways, she could stand the Rebels glaring daggers at her, she could also stand the constantly increasing numbers of fights between Royals an Rebels... what she could not stand is the doubt... how could anyone want to live live with that? How could anyone want to rip the comfortable safety net of knowing where your life is going?

 _And yet_ , a small voice in the back of her mind says, _I'm still here._

Was Raven right all along?

What if she's already vanished into nothingness and the void is just waiting for the right moment to claim her as well?

What if-

"Will you please stop hogging the narrator all to yourself?" asks a visibly itched Madelyne Hatter bursting right through the door "Obviously Raven has not vanished, both the readers and the narrator like her too much to lead her to a bad ending, so stop with this depressing thoughts, the story has to go on!"

"I-I... uh... o-ok... s-sorry?"

"Mpf... ok..." pouts Maddie "As long as you stop doing that... it's not healthy, you know. You could end up going crazy! Trust a wonderlandian on that one."

"I... I'll trust you then..." answers the dazed princess.

"Good choice, Apple!" exclaims, suddenly smiling, Maddie "Here's somiething to ease your worries and we'll see each other in class, ok? See you!"

As fast as she's appeared, Maddie vanishes, leaving only an apple scented cup of tea laying by Apple's side.

Apple doesn't know if she'll ever understand what the wonderlandian means when she talks about narrators and things like that but when she talks about Raven... Apple can't help but hope she's right.

For the sake of everyone...

-EAH-

It's not like she has much to complain about, when it was time to choose the role she draw the long stick, after all... and she absolutely loves this!

Being able to be herself, being able to run free, snarl, howl and everything else!

What a blast!

But still... faking a rivalry... faking hate for someone you hold dear... faking not to know your own mother... that really pisses her off.

Her arrival to the land of Ever After is planned to happen in a few months and she's going to use all the time she has at hands to try to calm down her nerves.

'Try' being the keyword.

Not very easy to forget that hers will be the second generation of her family forced into this parody of life because of an old bigot finely dressed.

Good thing she's heard about those 'Rebels' guys, she'll gladly add her fangs to their bite.

That, or the next time she sees her dad she'll ask him to take the whole family, run away and let all of this Ever After mess go to hex! Yeah... that'll work too...

These thoughts run through her mind exactly like she runs through the wildlands right out of the land of Ever After, by the feet of the mountain that parts the Dark Forest surrounding the school from the Forbidden Forest leading to the no-mans land separating the fairytale land from the monster land.

This is so exciting!

These lands are actually wild, not just a name and a façade chosen for the sake of it: boars are not domesticated, poisonous plants does not give just a rush, buildings fall apart thanks to the roots of the majestic trees tearing through the soil. Just as it all was meant to be.

Well... at least... most of it is that way...

Ramona comes to a screeching halt as she takes in the bizzarre scenario right in front of her: the wild, moss covered trees blend together to form a small and cozy looking bungalow, bushes of wildberries grows all around it coloring the whole scene with countless colourful pearls, on the porch a young girl with long dark hair has fallen asleep on a rocking chair with a book on her face.

She is so distracted by all of this that she almost doesn't notice the light snarl coming from behind her.

She turns slowly, coming face to face with a small dark purple dragon hatchling glaring daggers at her and baring it's tiny fangs, however, as soon as the dragon looks at her face, its disposition changes. It stares at her with obvious curiosity while its tiny nose wrinkles up, trying to get her smell, as if looking for something familiar.

After a few moments, the hatchling expression brightens up as it jumps in Ramona's arms, surprising her, throwing her to the ground and slobbering her all over with energic licks.

"Woah! Calm down, Shortie, you're- blah -tickling and drenching me!" the girl tries to protest but it seems that the little dragon is hellbent on showing its affection to its fullest.

"Ah-hem!" someone claring her throat puts a sudden stop to the scene.

Both the cuddle-engaged ones slowly turns their head to face the dark haired girl staring down on them "Nevermore, you know it's not polite nor igenic to kiss strangers." she scolds the little dragon "And you, well, I'm sorry... I'll gladly pay if you think your clothes are ruined." she apologizes to Ramona, offering her an helping hand as soon as Nevermore jumps off of her.

"Eh, no big." shrugs her off the she-wolf, nimbly jumping to her feet "I mean, if the little firecracker's sloppy kisses were enough to ruin them, I won't be wearing 'em in the Forbidden Forest, don't you think?"

The girl looks at her with an amused smile "You are just lucky she was in a licking mood and not in a nibbling mood, she is starting her second teething and, good robes or not, there's only that much you can do against dragon fangs."

Ramona chuckles "I'll trust you on that one. I'm Ramona, by the way, Ramona Badwolf."

The girl's eyes widens for a second, while finally noticing her furry elongated ears and golden eyes, before a serene smile brightens up her face once again "Nice to meet you Ramona, my name is Raven and I used to go to school with your sister."

Raven may have forsaken her role as a villain, but she'll be a liar if she was to say didn't have fun in watching Ramona's shocked expression.

"So, do you want to come in for a spot of tea?"


End file.
